Monday, September 15, 2014

Tonight, I made another recipe from Pinterest. I love all the great ideas that I find on that site! The original recipe came from BevCooks. I changed it a bit, more shrimp and noodles. I added less ginger too. Lastly, I omitted both the garlic and lime from the original recipe. The noodles are GF and easy on the tummy! Everybody loved it especially my husband (aka my clean up crew) since I only messed up one skillet! :o)

Heat the 2 tbsp of each oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the shrimp, cook for about 5 minutes. Shrimp cook quickly so don't leave them unattended! Remove from pan and set aside.

Drain any liquid from the pan and add the remaining oils. Add the ginger and bell pepper. Sauté for one minute, then add the coconut milk, stock, noodles, fish sauce, sriracha sauce, cilantro and green onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until noodles cook through, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir shrimp back into the skillet before serving.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Almosr everyone has heard of chili cheese fries. I decided to put a little spin on that idea and made Sloppy Fries! I've posted a crock pot version of my sloppy joes once before. This is a quick stove top version. The French fries are a double fry recipe from the Pioneer Woman. I didn't take pictures during the process tonight because I was in a rush, but trust me, it was super simple and quick! This meal is a kid favorite and husband approved!

Sloppy Fries:

Ingredients:

6 cups vegetable oil or shortening

6 russet potatoes peeled and sliced

1.5 lb ground beef

1 med onion, diced

11/2 cups ketchup

2 tbsp chili sauce

2 tbsp prepared mustard

2 tbsp Worstershire sauce

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp Sriracha (optional)

Salt for seasoning fries

Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

Directions:

Brown the beef and onion over med-high heat. Drain the meat and turn heat down to low. In a separate bowl, mix together all the other ingredients. Pour the sauce over the meat mixture and cook on low for an hour.

Soak potatoes slices in cold water for an hour. Change the water after 30 minutes to remove the starch. Heat oil/shortening to 275*. Fry potatoes in batches for 3-4 minutes removing with a slotted spoon. Place the soft fries on a paper towel lined tray. After cooking all the fries, heat the oil/shortening up to 375*. Fry the potatoes a second time for 4-5 minutes. Drain on clean paper towels and sprinkle with salt to taste.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Several months ago, I pinned a recipe from BHG for Minature Cherry-Almond Vanilla Cupcakes. They looked so good! I had been looking for a reason to make them so I decided to give them a try as the dessert for our Labor Day party. I opted to make a dozen regular cupcakes instead of 24 minis. I also used GF flour instead of regular flour. When I use GF flour which is much finer, I increase the amount that a recipe calls for. In this case, I added 1/4 cup extra. Below are the ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar together along with the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix the dry ingredients together with a fork then mix the wet ingredients together.

Alternate the addition of the cherry mixture and the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl until you get a smooth batter.

Fill the desired cupcake wells 3/4 full with batter. Push half a maraschino cherry into each well and then smooth the batter to cover it.

Bake for 20 minutes in a 350*F oven. You always need to bake GF items a few minutes longer than when you use regular flour.

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. I actually made these the day before serving and stored in an airtight container. I decorated the cupcakes a few hours before the party. The frosting consisted of just 5 ingredients and came together in about 2 minutes!

As I started writing this post, I asked my husband for a catchy name for this morning's breakfast and his title is above. It's a big title for a little sandwich, but we had a hard time capturing all the goodness it contains! This recipe makes ten biscuits so you can either make it for a brunch crowd or wrap the leftover sandwiches in foil and stash them in the refridge. Then on a rushed weekday, morning, you can pop them in a 350*F oven for 7-10 minutes for a hearty hand held breakfast to get the day started off right!

GF Sunday Morning Ham & Egg Wake-Up Biscuits:

Serves 10

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup gf multipurpose flour

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/3 cup buttermilk

1 tbsp honey

5 slices sm ham steak

10 eggs

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until well combined. Combine biscuit mix and buttermilk in a mixing bowl until the mix is completely moistened.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and dust a little flour on it. Lay your biscuit dough on it and cover it with another piece of plastic wrap. (You might need a little more flour).

Gently roll out the dough to about a 3/4 inch or so. Use a floured biscuit cutter or rim of a juice glass to cut out your biscuits. You will get 20 biscuits. Slide a metal spatula underneath the dough and place cut biscuits onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, brush tops of biscuits with honey that you heated for 20 seconds in the microwave. Continue baking for another 3-5 minutes. Remove them from the oven & leave heat on for final step in the recipe.

While the biscuits are baking, heat 5 slices of ham over med-high heat for 6-7 minutes, turning once while cooking. Set ham aside & fry the eggs in the same skillet.

To build your sandwiches, turn 10 biscuits honey side down on the baking sheet. Cut each ham slice into quarters and lay 2 quarter pieces on each upside down biscuit. Next lay an egg on each biscuit. Lastly, put a pinch of cheese and place another biscuit on the top to finish them. Slide the biscuits into the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Yesterday, we had my family over to celebrate Labor Day. As it usually happens, we had several left over ears of corn. As I was planning tonight's meal, I started thinking how I could make a new side-dish rather than just reheating the corn. Corn cakes came to mind. The corn cakes that I came up with were packed with lots of veggie goodness! Because they were lightly fried and made with corn meal, the boys thought they tasted a little bit like a hush puppy so they had no trouble eating them. Sometimes, a mother has to get sneaky with serving vegetables! The zuchinni corn cakes made a fast and easy alternative to a regular starch. They took less than 10 minutes to prep and then 15-20 minutes to pan fry them. If you like fried zuchinni, this recipe would be worth a try!

GF Zuchinni Corn Cakes:

Ingredients:

Kernels from 2 corn cobs

1 small zuchinni, shredded

1 small summer squash, shredded

1 small onion, shredded

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup corn meal

1 cup GF multipurpose flour

2 tbsp milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Salt & Pepper to taste

Oil for frying

Cover the bottom of a skillet with a 1/4 inch of oil and heat over a med-high burner. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Use an ice cream scoop to make each cake. Place th cakes in the hot oil and cook for 2-4 minutes on each side. Gently press down on the cakes when you turn them over. This will flatten them out. Drain the cakes on a paper towel lined plate before serving. Enjoy!